Midjourney acquires Co-Star to build first native applications

Midjourney’s shift to native applications

Midjourney has acquired Co-Star, a personalized astrology app, as part of a strategy to expand beyond its current web and Discord distribution model into standalone software, according to The Verge. The deal closed in spring 2026, though financial terms remain undisclosed. Co-Star founder Banu Guler will retain control of the astrology application while simultaneously assuming the role of Midjourney’s chief design officer.

Co-Star’s existing functionality

Co-Star operates as a free app combining NASA data, human expertise, and AI systems to generate personalized daily horoscopes and compatibility assessments among users. According to the app’s published information, these features represent the core value proposition that attracted Midjourney’s interest beyond the typical acquisition-for-talent pattern.

Design leadership and product roadmap

Midjourney founder David Holz told Bloomberg that Guler and her team will architect Midjourney’s upcoming native applications, beginning with dedicated image-generation software. This marks a departure from Midjourney’s reliance on Discord as its primary user interface and suggests the company sees limitations in browser-based and chat-platform distribution for certain use cases. By bringing Guler into a design-leadership role, Midjourney is prioritizing interface and user experience expertise alongside its core generative AI capabilities.

Why This Matters

The acquisition signals that Midjourney recognizes a market opportunity in purpose-built AI applications rather than platform-agnostic deployment through third-party channels. Teams evaluating Midjourney as a vendor should anticipate new distribution channels and UI paradigms over the next 12 months, potentially including mobile-first or desktop-native experiences. For design-focused technologists, the move demonstrates that established AI companies are willing to acquire established consumer products — not just engineering talent — to accelerate product diversification. The decision to keep Co-Star operational as an independent product while mining it for design leadership suggests Midjourney is hedging against user concentration risk in a single platform.